FOR STARTERS.

Caws And Effect

December 11, 1994|By Jeff Lyon.

Has anyone noticed that the dominant cultural icon of the moment seems to be the crow? There are currently two alternative rock groups that employ the enigmatic bird in their name, Counting Crows and the Black Crowes. There is the singer, Sheryl Crow, and, of course, the movie "The Crow," whose costar, an uncannily intelligent member of that species, frequently upstaged the late Brandon Lee. And one of the most popular hip dance clubs in Chicago is Crobar, which might have been called The Crow Bar, except there is already one of those down in Eddie Vrdolyak's ward (not a hip dance club).

The crow family is considered disreputable and boorish by some people (mainly farmers) and is associated with death and the dark side by others (mainly Edgar Allen Poe), meaning the crow may be the right bird for our time.